Strength of medieval women verified by bone study

Recent analysis of skeletons from Wharram Percy, a village on the Yorkshire Wolds, shows that the thick bones of the medieval women demonstrated a life of hard labor which built up their strength.

"The differences are really quite pronounced," said Simon Mays, of English Heritage, who has measured 120 sets of women's bones from the site. "Women at Wharram were much more muscular and bigger boned than their city counterparts. Whilst they were still doing the domestic chores and looking after children, they clearly also mucked in with the hard labour in the fields, building up their arm strength."